citic cashing up

CITIC soars as Kazakh oil deal nears

Yvonne Lee

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Shares of CITIC Resources Holdings (1205), the commodity and energy investment arm of CITIC Group, surged more than 13 percent Monday after the company said it will sell shares to raise HK$1.72 billion to acquire a stake in a Kazakhstan oil field from its parent.
The purchase will bolster the company's oil reserves.

CITIC shares, suspended from trading Friday, leaped to HK$2.98 on resumption of trading Monday before easing to close at HK$2.93. The share price was up 13.13 percent compared with Thursday's closing price of HK$2.59. To date this year the shares have gained nearly 30 percent.

In a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange Monday, the red chip CITIC Resources said it will use the proceeds from share sales to finance future acquisitions in the natural resources and energy sectors.

"We are conducting a review of potential assets, including the acquisition of the Kazakhstan oil assets, but no decision has been made," chairman Peter Kwok Viem said in the statement. "Having assessed the current gearing and the potential future funding requirements, a share sale is the most beneficial fund-raising method for us."

CITIC Resources announced Monday it sold 700 million shares at HK$2.46 apiece, a discount of 5 percent to Thursday's closing price.

Analysts said the company will purchase a 47.3 percent stake in the Kazakhstan oil assets from its parent CITIC Group which acquired the Kazakhstan oil assets of Canada's Nations Energy for US$1.91 billion (HK$14.9 billion) last year.

To gain Kazakhstan government approval for the transaction, CITIC Group agreed to grant an option for the Kazakhstan oil company Kazmunaigas to acquire 50 percent of the assets.

The Canadian firm's Kazakhstan assets include subsidiary JSC Karazhanbasmunai, which holds the mineral rights to develop the Karazhanbas oil and gas field until 2020. The field has proven reserves of more than 340 million barrels of oil.